30 for 30: Pony Excess (2010)
**** (out of 4)
The final entry in ESPN's 30 FOR 30 series takes us back to the early 80s when Southern Methodist University had the best record in college football. You might ask yourself how SMU could have the best record and that's because they were buying the best players in the country. After being caught twice and put on probation, the boosters continued to pay players and this led the NCAA to put a "death penalty" on them, which got rid of the football program for two years and nearly twenty-years later it's still not restored. Clocking in at just under two-hours there's no doubt that the series goes out on an incredibly high not as this documentary perfectly explains and tells you everything you'd want to know. It's funny that ESPN shows this one just shortly after Cam Newton won the Heisman considering all the stuff floating around about his father taking money. This documentary shows that paying players has been going on for a very long time and it reminds younger people that the trouble Reggie Bush got USC in isn't nearly as bad as what happened to SMU. We get interviews with their coaches, players and even a couple of the boosters who were paying people. The interesting aspect of the story is that there were two newspapers in Dallas and both of them were trying to out do the other, which led to some famous writers to try and track down and get a player to talk, which they eventually did. The shocking thing is that the Texas governor was even involved in the paying. Sports fans are going to recognize every writer that was working in Dallas at this time so that just makes this film even more special when you notice you had famous people playing, paying as well as writing about the situation. Director Matula does a marvelous job at showing the atmosphere of college football in Texas and they also make it quite clear that SMU wasn't the only school paying players. When you watch a film like this you can't help but feel that this has been going on for decades and it certainly hasn't stopped as college football is still worth a lot more money than it was in 1981. Fans of college football are going to love this documentary but it also gives a great message to anyone that there are lines that can't get crossed and even something as big as a football program can be taken away in the matter of seconds.
